Doctor Who… and some movie about a guy named Thor…. Chris Eccleston is the villain in Thor 2… combining two of my favorite things in one movie. What does everyone think of that casting? And the storyline implications?

Right, he’s playing Malekith, the evil elf from Simonson’s run, right? It’s been a long time since I read those issues, but I can see Eccleston having half black and half white face make-up. I believe Malekith was already introduced in the Avengers cartoon in a storyline that involves some of the elements from the Thor movie… but I haven’t seen it.

I think it’s interesting that the Thor franchise isn’t shying away from the crazy magical aspects of that world.

I’ll admit I haven’t read it so I don’t really know what to expect, but I was bummed to learn that Mads Mikkelsen wasn’t going to do it

I was worried that post-Avengers they would try to ground it a little more, but Malekith is like an even more surreal, wildly magical version of Loki.

That was part of the point of doing Thor in the first place and Kevin Feige will be the first to admit it. He wanted to bring magic into the Marvel Cinematic Universe to counterbalance the technology of Iron Man.

I like Eccleston, but I don’t really get too excited at seeing Malekith.

Which makes sense why there’s no momentum on Dr. Strange.

I’m with Spencer on this one. I like Eccleston as an actor but Mads Mikkelson is a much better actor.

I don’t know Mikkelson very well, but I confess that Eccleston was actually my least favorite of the modern Doctor Who actors.

You saw Casino Royale, right? He was the guy bleeding from his eyes while playing poker! But with the announcement that it’s Malekith, can we finally put to bed the rumors of it being Enchantress and Executioner?

I don’t think so. Enchantress could still easily appear, and frankly, it needs something more.

If I remember Malekith has associations both with Loki and the Frost Giants as well.

Because the Dark Elves are effectively as interesting as the Frost Giants.

They’ve gotta sells those toys.

It would be interesting if Malekith poses a threat to be a bigger threat than Loki, causing Loki to fight him for his own reasons.

Unless maybe you have the Elves making a deal with Thanos?

Yeah, my concern is that he’s actually not that different from Loki in his motivations… He’s an unpredictable, magical, trickster-type of character, from what I recall.

Totally, Rick, he actually has disguised himself as Loki, too.

Thor could learn that an army is being built.

Right, Thanos is just going to go through the entire line of Marvel creatures to fight for him… Dark Elves, then the Badoon…

I’d like to see someone challenge Thor from a different angle.

Hopefully they’ll actually use the army of Dark Elves instead of the maybe 10 minutes the Frost Giants were in Thor 1.

I would also kill Odin. He’s gotta be expensive and his death can only fuel Thor’s arc.

Don’t worry, there’s always the Spaceknights out there to put a stop to this stuff. *crossing fingers for ROM cameo*

Two things I shoiuld have mentioned about Rick.. he’s obsessed with Doctor Who and with Rom: Spaceknight… not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Marvel doesn’t own ROM anymore, tragically!

I know, I know…But Hasbro does, and they have the Marvel toy license… Hasbro bought Parker Brothers, who owned ROM, last I checked…

Speaking of which, I was half-surprised that Bug appeared in the Guardians in “Avengers Assemble” but not going to be in the movie, probably for the same reason.

Interesting… That’s a good point.

I think there’s a lot of potential with Malekith and the Dark Elves but I think they need to hold Thanos off until the Guardians if not Avengers 2.

Oh, absolutely. Thanos is too big of a deal to waste in a solo movie… sort of like the Skrulls.

You can still tease him. I mean, you kind of need to tell regular audiences that he’s a big deal.

What if Thanos is in BOTH?

*dun dun DUNNNNNNNN*

I can see Thanos appearing in another post-credits sequence.

Is it too nerdy to bring up Deep Space Nine in a comic book chat? They teased the Dominon for years before they introduced them. And then brought the soldiers first. Which is exactly what the elves could be.

Well, I think what we’re going to see is that wherever the infinity gauntlet ends up next, that’s where thanos will end up…

The thing is that Malekith and the Dark Elves are not a very big part of Thor mythology. I don’t even remember the last time they were mentioned.

Have someone in league with Thanos try to steal an infinity gem from Odin and end with his death.

Silas, I’m going to tell Sir Anthony Hopkins you want to kill his Marvel payday 🙂 What happened to the Infinity Gauntlet plans? I thought they were going to do more with them… or the Cosmic Cube.

Is it a part of Thor 2 at all? Do we know?

I still think that the “Cosmic Cube” is actually one of the Infinity Gems in the cinematic universe…

I’m not sure if the Cosmic Cube was properly used in the Marvel movies yet. I really wanted to see the Red Skull holding it and using it to change reality or something. So in general, are we all cool with Malekith? I mean, besides the fact that he’s played by a former Doctor Who.

As far as Thor villains go, why not? It’s not like the general public cares.

i think they’re going to combine those massively powerful energy sources, story-wise, and put them together for a big “you thought it was bad when someone had one of them, what about someone who has ALL of them” arc.

I bet Rick can’t wait until they have David Tennant playing Arcade in the X-Men movies. 🙂

YES.Very YES.

Spencer, you’re right. I think you put Thor in the title and promise more Chris Hemsworth semi-nudity and Tom Hiddleston being a bad boy and the women will show up.

Exactly.

Indeed.

But also let’s remember that Kevin Feige has said that these movies will be standalone movies and not just build up to an Avengers 2. They realize how that sidelined Iron Man 2 slightly.

We’ll see……

I wonder how they’re going to get Natalie Portman involved if it’s space-heavy.

They’ll cut to her every 15 or 20 minutes looking into the stars “Where oh where are you, Thor?”

Hahahahahaha.

And then they’ll cut back to Thor fighting some Dark Elves or being seduced by Enchantress. Natalie Portman’s scenes will be shot in a couple days.

Maybe they’ll have her wear her hair in side-buns to bring in the Star Wars crowd…

Head over to page 4 to hear Silas’ Ant-Man conspiracy (with a SPOILER WARNING for Marvel’s upcoming short film “Item 47” which appears on the Avengers Blu-Ray)